Sunday Cravings

First up this week we have Natalie Angier’s The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science. Not exactly a new book, but new to me. It came out in May 2007, but I didn’t discover it until I stumbled across an old The New York Times review of the book. I am always looking for books that can explain science to me in easy terms. I like science, but sometimes it’s a little much for my brain to handle. Last year I thought I’d finally found the perfect book, when I picked up The History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, but I was wrong. Bryson’s book was still a little too snoozerific for me, so I’m going to try this one and see if it’s any better.

Second on my list for this week is Kara Zuaro’s Indie-rock cookbook, I Like Food, Food Tastes Good. Although not really a book to read per se, this book sounds really interesting to me. Zuaro compiled on-the-road recipes from touring bands to put together this book. One such recipe is for a veggies sausage and peanut butter sandwich, submitted by Death Cab For Cutie. Read more about the book and its contents here.

Lastly, I offer you Beautiful Children from first-time author Charles Bock. This has been hyped up big time in The New York Times, but is getting mixed reviews on Amazon, where people either love it or hate it. There seems to be no middle ground for this book depicting Sin City in all its seediness. No, it’s not the Sin City of tourists, it’s the Las Vegas most people would like to think doesn’t really exist. The book centers around a 12-year-old boy who goes missing. It’s told from the perspecitves of his distraught parents, himself and the people he meets along the way. Bock, the son of pawn shop owners, grew up in Las Vegas and is intimately familiar with the unflashy part of the city. I think it might be interesting to see Las Vegas from an inhabitant’s standpoint, rather that a visitor’s (my usual viewpoint there). I think it’s worth checking out. I just hope it’s not as bad as some people are saying.